Mrs. Crunch

You may know her as croque-madame.

One of those sandwiches where a knife and fork are required.

In preparation for my new job at Au Petit Chavignol (opening soon, will keep you updated), I recently made myself one of the items that will be on the menu there: a croque-madame. It is a variation of the classic french sandwich, croque-monsieur, which is essentially a grilled cheese with ham. The female version is made extra sinful by topping it all off with mornay sauce and a fried egg. Usually in restaurants, the crusts are taken off for a little refinement, but I was at home and wanted every last bit of it. It’s a god-damn delicious sandwich and I hope you come and have one when we open.

My new job will, to start, have me working the meat and cheese station behind the bar. This will include slicing the meats (including Iberico ham, a custom salami made by Moccia’s, house-made terrines) and cutting the cheese. It will be great to be able to interact with the customers directly and hopefully learn a thing or two from them. My partner-in-crime Brad Miller will be back in the hot kitchen, doing the fondue, raclette and the rest of the franco-centric menu. As we get closer to opening, I will do a few posts to let you know more about the team that Alice, Alison and Joe of les amis have assembled and how we are progressing.  I recently spent a couple days at the West 2nd les amis location and learned a ton about cheese, but I now realize fully, how complex and crazy the world of cheese is. You could spend weeks (or years) learning about pecorino alone!